On a rare three-day break, we decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem’s busy core, where we lived and worked. We headed for Eilat, a modern resort town beside the Mediterranean Sea on the site of biblical Elath.
On the way, we stopped at Tel Tamar, located just off Highway 90, about 25 miles south of the Dead Sea. Tamar means “Palm Tree.” In this arid land, palm trees are found where there is a water source. Today, biblical Tamar is called Ein Hatzeva. In Hebrew, Ein means “Spring.”
So, it is no wonder that Tamar served as an oasis for travelers passing through this brutal, forbidding desert; in the desert, water is vital for survival. Tamar served as a way station for an ancient trade and spice route. One layer of ruins revealed that the Nabataeans, great traders and the famous architects of Petra, inhabited Tamar for a while. Later, the Romans would occupy Tamar, fortifying it as a desert outpost. A four-room house and a fortress dating to Israelite times have been identified. So far, archeologists have uncovered six strata of civilization at this southern site.
But to me, Tamar’s most significant historical link was a heap of broken clay and stone religious artifacts that was found outside one of the city walls. This pile of idols, altars, cups, and incense burners was discovered in 1993. In the 7th century BC, an Edomite temple was used here, apparently by Jews who lived in Tamar. The land of Edom is located directly east of Tamar and, like so many times in biblical history, the Jews allowed themselves to be influenced by the religious beliefs of the people who lived close to them.
By all appearances, these ritual vessels and altars were deliberately destroyed and thrown into a pit. Although the Bible does not mention Tamar directly in relation to King Josiah’s religious reforms and revival of righteousness, it is highly likely that these idols were destroyed during his reign.
King Josiah was one of Judah’s righteous kings. His father Amon and his grandfather Manasseh were evil and worshipped false gods. But Josiah took a different path. Josiah repaired the house of the Lord. During the renovations, Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law and sent it to King Josiah. As Josiah listened to the words of the book being read to him, he realized that God was angry with His people because of their great sins. When Josiah humbled himself before God, the Lord told him that He would not administer judgment during Josiah’s reign. Josiah wanted to serve God and he wanted his country to serve God. So he “made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statues with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book” (II Kings 23:3).
Josiah cleansed the land of idol worship. All of the vessels that were in the House of the Lord that had been used for Baal worship were burned. Josiah went throughout the land, destroying idols, breaking down altars and high places, restoring worship of the God of Israel. II Chronicles 34:7 says, “And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.” Josiah was thorough when he cleansed the land of idolatry. Although the Bible does not list every place Josiah visited during this purification process, it is highly likely that his campaign extended to Tamar.
The pile of cultic remains found at Tamar is currently being stored in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. They are testimony to the tendency of humankind to drift from worship of the One True God to the worship of gods made of wood, stone, and clay. Heathen nations believed that their gods caused the ground to be fertile. They believed that their gods would deliver them from conquering nations and bring them prosperity. Why did God get angry when the children of Israel worshipped other gods? He was angry because by their actions they were saying, “God we don’t trust you. We don’t think you are able to help us.” They allowed themselves to be influenced by the gods of the people around them, little gods that were created by men’s hands.
There are a lot of lessons for us here, but the ultimate lesson is that we need to continually remind ourselves of the first law of all: There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Essentially, God said to His people, “Before you learn anything else, learn that I am God and I am the only God. If you forget everything else, don’t forget this. I am the only God that you need.”
